The best part about the payroll holiday was Obama championing its extension while threatening that the government wasn't going to be able to send seniors their social security checks.....all around the same time.

Nobody is going to be in this boat. At worst, the federal government is going to do what the federal government does best: kick the can. Payroll holiday and Bush cuts will be extended several months into next year, at which point they will almost certainly be extended through all of 2013 for everybody but the top 2%. Just like they did with the payroll holiday coming into this year.

King Sid the Great 87 wrote:The best part about the payroll holiday was Obama championing its extension while threatening that the government wasn't going to be able to send seniors their social security checks.....all around the same time.

I'll bet less than 50% of the population has any idea at all, why you see that as an issue. Today.

If the fiscal comes to be, When the first pay cycle of 2013 comes to a close and people loo at their pay stubs, there's going to be a lot of teeth gnashing.

It's going to be interesting watching the finger pointing and PR campaigns, by both sides, trying to blame the other side. I'd bet you a beer, they're already hard at work preparing the ads that they're going to run.

If only that work effort was put into solving the problem in the first place.

I just don't see the R's allowing taxes to go up across the board, which would allow Obama the opportunity to present a bill on January 1st for a middle class tax cut. It would put them in the position of having to argue against a tax cut for 98% of people and 97% of small businesses.

ExPatriatePen wrote:I'll bet less than 50% of the population has any idea at all, why you see that as an issue. Today.

Why are we having all this subterfuge and this, that and the other thing? Why are we being told make a reservation on Christmas Eve and one on the day after Christmas to come back? Is there not an appreciation for the Jewish holidays? The Christmas holiday? Kwanzaa? All the other things that families come together around? Do we not care about that?

Did she ctach the holiday spirit?

“Well, the American people care about it. And they want to shop for it. They want to have family dinners and they want to exchange gifts as is the tradition, but they really don’t know if they’re going to be able to pay the bill in January for the purchases in December.

King Sid the Great 87 wrote:The best part about the payroll holiday was Obama championing its extension while threatening that the government wasn't going to be able to send seniors their social security checks.....all around the same time.

I'll bet less than 50% of the population has any idea at all, why you see that as an issue. Today.

If the fiscal comes to be, When the first pay cycle of 2013 comes to a close and people loo at their pay stubs, there's going to be a lot of teeth gnashing.

It's going to be interesting watching the finger pointing and PR campaigns, by both sides, trying to blame the other side. I'd bet you a beer, they're already hard at work preparing the ads that they're going to run.

If only that work effort was put into solving the problem in the first place.

The naïveté of the country as a whole about how much they will owe in taxes, how it is allocated, etc. is disturbing given how much people care/complain about their taxes.

The tax code is convoluted, but not that difficult that the average Joe can't figure out their situation. The first of the year is the time to look forward to figure out how to optimize your situation for the next year, not the time to start gathering the previous year's documents to see if you "earned" yourself a refund.

King Sid the Great 87 wrote:The naïveté of the country as a whole about how much they will owe in taxes, how it is allocated, etc. is disturbing given how much people care/complain about their taxes.

The tax code is convoluted, but not that difficult that the average Joe can't figure out their situation. The first of the year is the time to look forward to figure out how to optimize your situation for the next year, not the time to start gathering the previous year's documents to see if you "earned" yourself a refund.

Itemizing deductions like owning a home, donating to charity, medical costs, having kids and operating a small business out of my home offsets almost all of my federal liability that I usually get all my federal and state withholdings back. Now if my rates go up I'll just up my allowances on my W4 starting in January to where my paychecks will stay the same but I proabbly won't get much of a refund.

King Sid the Great 87 wrote:The naïveté of the country as a whole about how much they will owe in taxes, how it is allocated, etc. is disturbing given how much people care/complain about their taxes.

The tax code is convoluted, but not that difficult that the average Joe can't figure out their situation. The first of the year is the time to look forward to figure out how to optimize your situation for the next year, not the time to start gathering the previous year's documents to see if you "earned" yourself a refund.

Itemizing deductions like owning a home, donating to charity, medical costs, having kids and operating a small business out of my home offsets almost all of my federal liability that I usually get all my federal and state withholdings back. Now if my rates go up I'll just up my allowances on my W4 starting in January to where my paychecks will stay the same but I proabbly won't get much of a refund.

If they raise rates AND get rid of deductions I'm kind of screwed.

I was speaking in terms of a nominal year. The uncertainty surrounding this year tosses a lot up in the air.

Like I said earlier, the government will kick the can. Our rates will remain the same going into 2013 as they were in 2012. It will provide no long-term clarity, but will give us average folks a little bit of stress relief in the near-term.

Why are we having all this subterfuge and this, that and the other thing? Why are we being told make a reservation on Christmas Eve and one on the day after Christmas to come back? Is there not an appreciation for the Jewish holidays? The Christmas holiday? Kwanzaa? All the other things that families come together around? Do we not care about that?

Did she ctach the holiday spirit?

“Well, the American people care about it. And they want to shop for it. They want to have family dinners and they want to exchange gifts as is the tradition, but they really don’t know if they’re going to be able to pay the bill in January for the purchases in December.

Are you **** kidding me?

She is absolutely positively the most clueless person in Washington DC.

Why are we having all this subterfuge and this, that and the other thing? Why are we being told make a reservation on Christmas Eve and one on the day after Christmas to come back? Is there not an appreciation for the Jewish holidays? The Christmas holiday? Kwanzaa? All the other things that families come together around? Do we not care about that?

Did she ctach the holiday spirit?

“Well, the American people care about it. And they want to shop for it. They want to have family dinners and they want to exchange gifts as is the tradition, but they really don’t know if they’re going to be able to pay the bill in January for the purchases in December.

Are you **** kidding me?

She is absolutely positively the most clueless person in Washington DC.

Why are we having all this subterfuge and this, that and the other thing? Why are we being told make a reservation on Christmas Eve and one on the day after Christmas to come back? Is there not an appreciation for the Jewish holidays? The Christmas holiday? Kwanzaa? All the other things that families come together around? Do we not care about that?

Did she ctach the holiday spirit?

“Well, the American people care about it. And they want to shop for it. They want to have family dinners and they want to exchange gifts as is the tradition, but they really don’t know if they’re going to be able to pay the bill in January for the purchases in December.

Are you **** kidding me?

She is absolutely positively the most clueless person in Washington DC.

One of the most egregious aspects of this administration (not that the republicans would act differently), is their secrecy and voracious prosecution of whistleblowers combined with carefully orchestrated leaks designed to support a government approved narrative.

Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the production of "Zero Dark Thirty".

Personally I think this movie is highly irresponsible because as far as the public's access to the evidence upon which the movie is based is concerned; it can be a complete work of fiction. Perception is reality, and as such this will become the historical record.

The fundamental problem is that our government has again gotten away with offering privileged access to carefully selected individuals and getting a flattering story in return. Embeds, officially begun during the invasion of Iraq, are deeply troubling because not every journalist or filmmaker can get these coveted invitations (Seymour Hersh and Matt Taibbi are probably not on the CIA press office's speed dial), and once you get one, you face the quandary of keeping a critical distance from sympathetic people whom you get to know and who are probably quite convincing. That's the reason the embed or special invitation exists; the government does its best to keep journalists, even friendly ones, away from disgruntled officials who have unflattering stories to tell.